The first herd moved into a pen in the park’s Music Concourse in 1891, and to its current west-end digs in 1899.

But following the deaths of two older females this year, the once-mighty herd was reduced to three females nearing the end of their lives. The future of this longtime tradition was in jeopardy.

But on Monday, a livestock truck pulled into the park, and unloaded the future of the buffalo exhibit. Seven females, all around six-months old, stepped into the bison paddock, separated by a fence from the park’s three older bison.

“Right now we’re keeping them separated from our older females,” said San Francisco Zookeeper Sarah King, “so that everybody can get accustomed to each other.”